Rest in Peace, Ruby
by MorbidbyDefault
Summary: Prompted by Musicchica10, who recently lost her childhood pet dog. Anyway, set in the Ginger Midgets!verse, the twins experience their first loss of a loved one.


So, this is one of two prompts sent to me by musicchica10. The first is super sad, in that she requested it because her pet dog just passed away. Super sad. Anyway, Since she helped Ginger Midgets to become the wonderful thing it is now, I felt it only necessary to write her a GM story for such a prompt. I hope this cheers you up a bit, and know that I love you!

**I only own my characters! Everything/one else is spoken for!**

**Rest In Peace, Ruby**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Sherlock had been in his mind palace, sorting the immediate details of a recently solved case. However, he felt the slight tap on his cheek. Refusing to leave until absolutely necessary, Sherlock continued to filter through the information.

_'Remember, delete, delete, save for further research, delete...tap tap tap.'_

The consulting detective sighed in frustration, before opening his eyes. Not sure what to be expecting, his frustrations vanished instantly as he was greeted with the teary gaze of his son, Flynn. Sherlock sat up, unfolding his hands from their steepled pose under his chin.

"Flynn? Why are you crying?" Sherlock asked in an even tone. Flynn sniffled again, before wiping his eyes.

"Ruby won't wake up, Daddy." He gave his father a worried glance, before pointing across the room to the glass tank. Sherlock looked up, a frown immediately coming to rest on his face. True to form, there, in the tank, lay a very still, very _dead_ blue iguana. Rubidium, or Ruby to the twins, had been part of the Holmes household for three years now, just shy of the twins' birth. Sherlock leaned down to see the lizard, noting how she had gone quite pale in color. He sighed, a bit sad himself to see their dear family pet in such a state.

"Flynn, I'm sorry, but Ruby won't be waking up again." He hadn't imagined telling his children about death would be difficult, at all really. However, as the little boy's face grew sadder, and he asked the question, Sherlock found himself wanting to come up with a fake story, a _lie_, of why this was so.

"Why won't she wake up, Daddy?" Sherlock sighed out, preparing for the difficult task, when Molly and Helena entered through the front door.

"Well, the shops were insane today, but we got the groceries, didn't we Helena?" Molly's voice called out. Helena giggled in response, helping her mother with one of several bags. As she entered into the room with the boys, Molly was immediately greeted by Sherlock. She looked up at him, and sensed something was wrong.

"Sherlock? What is it?" She asked, seeing the deep furrow in his brow. The man pulled her into the kitchen, and helped her set the bags of food down. He then took her in his arms.

"Rubidium is dead. Flynn found her this morning..." Molly gasped a bit, looking over to whee the lizard's habitat was. She saw Flynn standing there, trying to figure something out. Helena was now at his side, looking into the tank as well. Molly looked back to her husband, who was quite obviously distraught.

"he wants to know why she won't wake up anymore...and I don't know what..._how_ to tell him." Molly smiled, albeit a bit sadly, before leaning up to kiss him.

"Come on, we'll go tell them together." She took his hand in hers, and they walked into the living room.

"Helena, Flynn sweetie, come over here and sit with Daddy and me for a moment." Molly beckoned her twins over to sit with them on the sofa. The two walked slowly away from Rubidium's tank, and soon were at their parents' sides. Molly hoisted Flynn up onto her lap, and Sherlock did the same with Helena.

"Kids, Mummy and Daddy wanted to talk to you about Ruby." Molly spoke slowly, hoping for the strength to break the terrible news to her babies.

"Mummy, is Wuby sweeping?" Helena asked, her small lip malforming the words, and frowning in confusion. Molly sighed, and looked at Sherlock, then back to the small girl.

"Well, yes and no, sweetheart. See, Ruby went to sleep, but she's not going to wake up again. She's going to stay asleep." Molly shook her head softly, sighing out and trying not to tear up as she received an onslaught of questions.

"Well, why not? She always wakes up. Mummy, can't you wake Wuby up? Daddy, she likes when you hold her, maybe she wake up then!" The twins brainstormed together of the list of things that made their precious Ruby happy. Sherlock looked to Molly, who just nodded in understanding.

"Flynn, Helena. Listen to me. Rubidium can't wake up...she's dead." Sherlock said it as delicately as he could, not wanting to hurt them. The twins stopped talking, and both sat there. Silence filled 221B, and nobody dared to breathe. Helena was the first to break down.

"O...oh. Wuby is...she died? B...but...but..._Why?_" She had started off with a quiet, sniffling voice, but eventually sobbed loudly into Sherlock's chest. He held onto her, rubbing her back softly. Molly was currently trying to get a reaction from their son, who was stock still in her arms.

"Hey, little bug? It's okay to cry. Ruby is, well, she was getting old, and so she just had to leave." Molly muttered to her son. After a few minutes, his startlingly blue eyes looked up at her.

"Mummy...can we have a fune- a fumr- can we bury Ruby?"

"Oh, a funeral? I think that's an excellent idea, Flynn." She said, smiling at him, and then holding back her own tears as he finally broke down.

OoOo

**Rubidium 'Ruby' Holmes**

**Rest in Peace **

The small plaque on the box read. They had had Ruby cremated, so the children would still have a piece of her near. The small pet urn sat on the shelf above their toy chest, and the twins talked to her every night before bed, just as they had done when she was alive. Lights were soon dimmed, and kisses planted on silky smooth toddler faces.

"Goodnight Mummy. Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Ruby. Love you!"

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And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed that. I remember the first time a pet of mine died, it was a gold fish. I named him Fluffy, because he was fat. Lol. He got a sea burial, via the toilet. Anyway, I am so very sad that your dog passed away, dear, and I hope this story brought a small smile to your face. :) Love you.


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